


Forward

by jm2cloud



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, New Year's Eve, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Room of Requirement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-25 20:45:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13220907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jm2cloud/pseuds/jm2cloud
Summary: An extemely short fic about Ginny brooding after the war and Luna going looking for her.





	Forward

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something for New Years, and I love this pairing, so, have at it.

The Room of Requirement was quiet. She hadn’t been sure if it would still work after the Fiendfyre, but the room could apparently shuffle it away when it was appearing as something else. She leaned back in her hammock, fingers twiddling her wand, listening to the unusual silence. She’d spent most of a school year hiding in here, and she had trouble sleeping in her old dorm now. It felt unsafe, too exposed. The others had talked to her quietly about it, urging her to talk to Madam Pomfrey, but she wasn’t ready yet. She needed time, and she needed quiet.

 

She flicked her wand lightly, casting a Tempus Charm and stared at the floating numbers. 11:50. Soon it would be a new year, and she’d be well on her way to her second year without Harry. 

 

The war had changed them both. Harry’s last few years had been hard, and he was uncomfortable to be around. He didn’t know how to deal with the lack of threats. He’d been fighting so long that he couldn’t relax, couldn’t just be. The Aurors had happily accepted the savior of the wizarding world, and Harry’s war continued right on almost without a pause for breath.

 

As for her...she heard children screaming when she was on the edge of sleep. She saw the faces of those who’d fallen, those who’d been tortured in her long sixth year, those who’d tried so very hard to kill her. She slept only after putting her wand out of reach after the third time she’d woken up in a blind panic, casting a spell that destroyed some part of her room. Even now, even here, in the place that had sheltered so many during that grim year, she could only sleep after fortifying herself in. 

 

They’d tried, of course. That long summer after, they’d sought each other out, desperately looking for the comfort and love they’d dreamed of. But they could see only shadows of the lost and reminders of fear and struggle in each other’s eyes. A month before the new school year, when she’d made the decision to come back and finish her education, they’d had a quiet discussion. It had ended with a friendly kiss and the understanding that, through no-one’s fault, they weren’t right for each other any more. 

 

She cast Tempus again. 11:57. 

 

“Ginny? Are you in here?”

 

She sat up, frowning, and twitched the drape hiding her hammock aside. “Luna?”

 

The older girl looked around the room, and Ginny belatedly remembered that she was effectively invisible. She sat up and slid out of her hammock, stepping forward through the barriers she’d set to hide her. Luna turned slightly, showing no surprise at the girl stepping out  of thin air. Sometimes Ginny wondered how Luna could have come through so much unruffled. Anyone else would have a wand pointed at her in a heartbeat, but Luna looked unsurprised by her sudden appearance.

 

“There you are,” she said with that weird little smile that had always looked a little daft before. These days, it looked serene. 

 

Ginny nodded. “What’s up?”

 

Luna walked toward her, picking her way through abandoned bedrolls and lanterns. Ginny had meant to clean the Room, but it felt...homey, the way it was. Empty without her comrades, maybe, but like they were just away, not moving on without her.

 

“I didn’t see you in the Great Hall for the celebration,” Luna said calmly, looking at her curiously. “Are you feeling all right?”

 

Ginny suppressed a smile. Only Luna would ask that at this point. “I’m fine. I just don’t see a point to it.”

 

Luna nodded as she came to a stop in front of her, a mere foot away. Ginny was surprised to find that she was ok with the other girl standing so close.

 

“Of course not,” she said quietly, looking at her knowingly. 

 

Ginny cocked her head, wondering not for the first time if Luna was a Legilimens. She always seemed able to stare into your soul.

 

“So why aren’t you at the celebration?”

 

Luna shrugged. “No one to celebrate with,” she said with a smile. “I’d rather see the old year off beside someone I care for.”

 

Ginny blinked. “And...you care for me?”

 

Luna drew her wand and flicked it. 12:00. She leaned forward and kissed Ginny gently on the lips. Ginny stared at her, too startled to respond.

 

“Of course,” she said softly. She smiled her little smile. “Happy New Year, Ginny.”

 

She turned and started to walk away. Ginny unfroze and reached out, catching her shoulder. Luna turned at look at her with that same small smile. Ginny took a deep breath, tucked her wand away, and stepped forward. She reached up and took Luna’s face in her hands and pulled her in for a deeper, longer kiss. 

 

Luna’s arms went around her and they stood there for awhile, lips pressing together slowly, over and over. 

 

At last, Ginny pulled back, looking at the other girl. “Why haven’t you said something before?”

 

The other girls shrugged. “Everyone needs time to mourn.”

 

Ginny stroked her face, cocking her head. “Why now?”

 

Luna laughed softly. “It’s time for new beginnings. And I want to begin with you.”

 

Ginny smiled, her first genuine smile in a long time. “I’d like that.”

 

Around them, the Room suffused with a gentle pink glow, as the girls stared into each other’s eyes and saw a way forward instead of the ghosts of the past.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are life, please feed the author.


End file.
